{"id":877518,"date":"2026-08-30T22:22:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T22:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/877518\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T22:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T22:22:13","slug":"change-needed-after-multiple-failures-led-to-grizzly-deaths-wildsafe-b-c-co-ordinator-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/877518\/","title":{"rendered":"Change needed after ‘multiple failures’ led to grizzly deaths, Wildsafe B.C. co-ordinator says"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

The outgoing community co-ordinator of Wildsafe B.C. Nelson is calling for change, after she says “multiple failures … on many levels” led to the killing of a grizzly sow and two of her three yearlings this month. <\/p>\n

“Personally, I’m heartbroken,” Lisa Thomson told CBC’s Radio West. Thomson announced her resignation from the role earlier this month in the wake of the killings. <\/p>\n

The four bears had attracted attention as they travelled through the Nelson area. The mother was killed after it was relocated but returned<\/a> to the West Kootenay community. <\/p>\n

LISTEN | Outgoing Wildsafe B.C. co-ordinator says grizzly killings need to spark change:<\/p>\n

Radio West16:51Reaction after another grizzly was killed in the West Kootenay on Thursday<\/p>\n

Lisa Thomson, community coordinator for WildSafe BC in Nelson, is sad about the recent killings of three grizzly bears in the West Kootenay.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS), one of the yearlings was killed because it wasn’t a good candidate for relocation due to age and health issues. A second yearling was killed this week<\/a> after it was relocated but turned up near Christina Lake eating garbage. <\/p>\n

“The bear was coming into close proximity of people, showed no fear of these people, and unfortunately the animal was able to access non-natural food sources,” said Andrew Milne, deputy chief of the BCCOS. <\/p>\n

“Because of that, that animal wouldn’t leave, and it’s with a heavy heart that the officers had to to respond and then dispatch the animal.”<\/p>\n

Thomson said she understands the policies and protocols involved in the decision to terminate wildlife, but was “just not able to accept them” in this case.<\/p>\n

She said the bears had been in and around the Nelson area for some time and repeatedly returned due to the abundance of feral fruit trees. <\/p>\n

\"ALisa Thomson with the grizzly sow, heavily sedated, back in 2023. (Submitted by Lisa Thomson)<\/p>\n

It’s a problem she said can’t simply be managed by relocating bears. <\/p>\n

Instead, she said, there needs to be concerted and coordinated efforts by residents, municipalities and businesses to bear smart their communities. <\/p>\n

She pointed to Canmore and Banff in Alberta which have replaced individual curbside trash bins with centralized, animal-proof community bins as an example.<\/p>\n

“There’s no such thing as roadside garbage collection in these towns. You’re not allowed to plant any fruit trees or any food bearing plants in that community,” she said. <\/p>\n

“Can we have a look at that and enforce that somehow? Find the funding for that?”<\/p>\n

Thomson said residents also need to do more, both by policing potential wildlife attractants and by not allowing them to get comfortable in human environments.<\/p>\n

“Coexistence is not allowing … a backcountry apex predator to hang out in your backyard next to your barbeque,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We kind of killed them with kindness by allowing them to do so. We’re not instilling boundaries and try to haze this family away.”<\/p>\n

Thomson said she also wanted to dispel misinformation circulating in the wake of the killings that Wildsafe B.C. was working as agents of the BCCOS. <\/p>\n

While the group does receive some funding from the province and municipalities, it is a non-profit organization whose role is purely to educate the public, she said. <\/p>\n

The grizzly sow’s fourth and final yearling was also relocated, and while it did initially turn up in Christina Lake, it has since moved on and is being monitored. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":877519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-877518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=877518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/877519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}